This week I get the pleasure of loving on my almost 15-month-old granddaughter, Rilyn. Her mommy and daddy are on mission trips (Dad took the Senior High to the Dominican Republic and Mom took the Junior High to inner city St. Louis–oh the joys of youth ministry!)
Rilyn’s a sweetheart, but babies are demanding. Yesterday I spoke to two moms…both with infants…and both infants cried and fussed throughout our whole conversation. Such is life of a mom with little ones.
If your days are filled with caring for little ones, cut yourself some slack. Lower your expectations. Remember that snuggling on the couch and tending to your little one’s needs is the most important things you need to do. If you need to (and I used to need to do this!), put these activities on your “to do” list: bathe, diaper, snuggle, interact with, feed, read to, go for a walk with, etc.
Believe it or not, this is a short season of time. Enjoy it to the fullest!
Here are a few pictures of Rilyn I snapped yesterday.
Oh and by the way, congratulations to Ginny (petrilla3)who won the drawing for one of Julie Chen’s scripture art in last Wednesday’s post! Ginny, Julie will be emailing you directly to get you the picture that you choose!
Jill – Rilyn is precious…thank you for sharing her with us. And what a GREAT idea – I strongly encourage moms with little ones to add those things to your to-do-list……the snuggling years go by much, much too fast!
Yep!
Thanks, Jill for reminding me of what should be truly important in my day. I appreciate your encouragement.
Jill ~ Rilyn is a beautiful little girl. I miss you and Hearts at Home. Tell Anne hello from me ~ although she may not remember me 🙂
I’m getting ready to have baby #2 in November. We are all super excited, especially Madilynn!!
Charla, Congratulations! That’s wonderful that you are expecting again! I’ll tell Anne Hi from you. I know she remembers you!
Jill, your granddaughter is adorable! Seeing her pics makes me miss when my babes were that small — now they are 3 1/2 and 5 1/2 (and off to kindergarten in a month). I don’t know where the time went, and I often wish I had it back to do over again.
I agree with adding to our to-do lists the little everyday things we do to spend time with our kids. I do this sometimes when I realize I haven’t been spending much time with them. (When they start “acting up”, ignore my requests, and do not show respect to me as their mom is their way of reminding me.) Whenever I write it on my daily list of things to accomplish on my refrigerator whiteboard, I find that I do spend that time with them, whether it’s playing a board game, reading books together, listening to music and dancing together. Whatever it is, I always try to choose things that require me to interact with them closely, often in close physical contact, since that seems harder to come by the older they get. Along with any other tasks for the day, spending time with my children, and seeing those activities written on the board with checkmarks to show I did them, gives me a sense of accomplishment, which does not always seem that apparent as a stay-at-home mom!
Good insight, Mindy!
Your grand daughter is really a grand baby. What a beautiful season in your life. Enjoying your babies first and now your babies’ babies.
You deserve it as you had made a choice to make your family your first priority.
Thanks for sharing with us your beautiful world.